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1821 New York Constitution

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1821 New York Constitution THE SECOND CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK, 1821. We, the people of the state of New York, acknowledging with gratitude the grace and beneficence of God, in permitting us to make choice of our form of government, do establish this constitution. [1] ARTICLE I. Section 1. [Legislative power.]—The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a senate and an assembly. § 2. [Senate and assembly, how constituted.]—The senate shall consist of thirty-two members. The senators shall be chosen for four years, and shall be freeholders. The assembly shall consist of one hundred and twenty-eight members, who shall be annually elected. § 3. [Special powers of two houses.]—A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business. Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, and be the judge of the qualifications of its own members. Each house shall choose its own officers; and the senate shall choose a temporary president, when the lieutenant governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as governor. § 4. [Journal of proceedings; public sessions; adjournments.]—Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same, except such parts as may require secrecy. The doors of each house shall be kept open, except when the public welfare shall require secrecy. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days. § 5. [Senate districts.]—The state shall be divided into eight districts, to be called senate districts, each of which shall choose four senators. The first district shall consist of the counties of Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Richmond, and New York. The second district shall consist of the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan. The third district shall consist of the counties of Greene, Columbia, Albany, Rensselaer, Schoharie, and Schenectady. The fourth district shall consist of the counties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Hamilton, Washington, Warren, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and St. Lawrence. The fifth district shall consist of the counties of Herkimer, Oneida, Madison, Oswego, Lewis, and Jefferson. The sixth district shall consist of the counties of Delaware, Otsego, Chenango, Broome, Cortland, Tompkins, and Tioga. The seventh district shall consist of the counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Ontario. The eighth district shall consist of the counties of Steuben, Livingston, Monroe, Genesee, Niagara, Erie, Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua. And as soon as the senate shall meet, after the first election to be held in pursuance of this Constitution, they shall cause the senators to be divided by lot, into four classes, of eight in each, so that every district shall have one senator of each class; the classes to be numbered, one, two, three, and four. And the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of the first year; of the second class, at the end of the second year; of the third class, at the end of the third year; of the fourth class, at the end of the fourth year; in order that one senator be annually elected in each senate district. § 6. [Census; reapportionment of senators.]—An enumeration of the inhabitants of the state shall be taken, under the direction of the legislature, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and the said districts shall be so altered by the legislature, at the first session after the return of every enumeration, that each senate district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, paupers, and persons of colour not taxed; and shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration, and shall at all times consist of contiguous territory; and no county shall be divided in the formation of a senate district. § 7. [Apportionment of members of assembly]—The members of the assembly shall be chosen by counties, and shall be apportioned among the several counties of the state, as nearly as may be, according to the numbers of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens, paupers, and persons of colour, not taxed. An apportionment of members of assembly shall be made by the legislature, at its first session after the return of every enumeration; and when made, shall remain unaltered until another enumeration shall have been taken. But an apportionment of members of the assembly shall be made by the present legislature, according to the last enumeration taken under the authority of the United States, as nearly as may be. Every county heretofore established, and separately organized, shall always be entitled to one member of the assembly; and no new county shall hereafter be erected, unless its population shall entitle it to a member. § 8. [Bills may originate in either house.]—Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature; and all bills passed by one house may be amended by the other. § 9. [Compensation of members.]—The members of the legislature shall receive for their services a compensation, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the public treasury; but no increase of the compensation shall take effect during the year in which it shall have been made. And no law shall be passed increasing the compensation of the members of the legislature beyond the sum of three dollars a day. § 10. [Members not to receive civil appointment.]—No member of the legislature shall receive any civil appointment from the governor and senate, or from the legislature, during the term for which he shall have been elected. § 11. [Disqualification of members.]—No person, being a member of Congress, or holding any judicial or military office under the United States, shall hold a seat in the legislature. And if any person shall, while a member of the legislature, be elected to Congress, or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat. § 12. [Governor to approve bills.]—Every bill which shall have passed the senate and assembly shall, before it become a law, be presented to the governor; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated; who shall enter the objections at large On their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two thirds of the members present, it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for, and against, the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case it shall not be a law. § 13. [Removals by legislature.]—All officers holding their offices during good behavior may be removed by joint resolution of the two houses of the legislature, if two thirds of all the members elected to the assembly, and a majority of all the members elected to the senate, concur therein. § 14. [Political year; meeting of legislature.]—The political year shall begin on the first day of January; and the legislature shall, every year, assemble on the first Tuesday of January, unless a different day shall be appointed by law. § 15. [Elections, when held.]—The next election for governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and members of assembly shall commence on the first Monday of November, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two; and all subsequent elections shall be held at such time, in the month of October or November, as the legislature shall, by law, provide. § 16. [Commencement of official term after first election.]— The governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and members of assembly, first elected under this Constitution, shall enter on the duties of their respective offices on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three; and the governor, lieutenant governor, senators, and members of assembly, now in office, shall continue to hold the same until the first day. of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and no longer. ARTICLE II. Section 1. [Qualifications of voters.]—Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been an inhabitant of this state one year preceding any election, and for the last six months a resident of the town or county where he may offer his vote; and shall have, within the next year preceding the election, paid a tax to the state or county, assessed upon his real or personal property; or shall by law be exempted from taxation; or, being armed and equipped according to law, shall have performed, within that year, military duty in the militia of this state; or who shall be exempted from performing militia duty in consequence of being a fireman in any city, town, or village in this state; and also, every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been, for three years next preceding such election, an inhabitant of this state; and, for the last year, a resident in the town or county where he may offer his vote; and shall have been, within the last year, assessed to labor upon the public highways, and shall have performed the labor, or paid an equivalent therefor, according to law, shall be entitled to vote in the town or ward where he actually resides, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, elective by the people; but no man of colour, unless he shall have been for three years a citizen of this state, and for one year next preceding any election, shall be seized and possessed of a freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, over and above all debts and incumbrances charged thereon; and shall have been actually rated, and paid a tax thereon, shall be entitled to vote at any such election.
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